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ConceptDraw MINDMAP Reviews

This review reflects the observations and experiences of independent teacher volunteers, and is provided as a service to Education World readers. The review in no way constitutes an endorsement of the product or its manufacturer by those teachers or by Education World.

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ConceptDraw MINDMAP, a software application from ConceptDraw.com, allows users to employ mind-mapping techniques to prepare reports and presentations, take notes, and organize brainstorming sessions. Recently, Education World asked our reviewers to use MINDMAP in both their personal and professional lives, rate the software on a scale of 1-4, and share their thoughts about the program's strengths and weaknesses. Discover how they used the program and read what they had to say about its power and versatility! Included: Comments about the software's potential for classroom use.

MINDMAP by ConceptDraw.com is a software program that allows users to employ mind-mapping techniques to organize their thoughts and display them in the form of a visual map. Maps created by the program can be used in presentations and reports, as well as imported to the Web or to other presentation programs, such as PowerPoint. The dual-platform program includes more than 1,300 images and specialized symbols; a variety of sorting and formatting capabilities; a timed brainstorming module; and more.

Recently, Education World reviewers, all teachers or educational technology specialists, checked out ConceptDraw MINDMAP, using it to accomplish a variety of personal and professional tasks. The reviewers, who used MINDMAP for a period of one month, noted the programs specific strengths and weaknesses, dealt with its quirks, recorded their personal observations -- both positive and negative -- and then rated various qualities of the software on a scale of 1-4.

Now, the results are in -- and this is what our reviewers had to say!

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!


OVERALL COMMENTS

 

overall chart

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"I had several goals for this software package. In particular, I wanted to use it to produce an attractive and easily accessible version of my school's rapidly evolving development plans. For this purpose, I needed a convenient system of linking various types of documents to the map produced by the program. I would have liked a "drag and drop" facility, but suitable control of the default folder when browsing for a link as provided in "preferences" is an adequate substitute. I hope to continue using the package in this way, ultimately producing a Web-based version of my development plan. If the newly downloaded update is as good as it claims to be for this purpose, I look forward to using it."

"I have been interested in mind-mapping techniques for some time, and was anxious to see how ConceptDraw MINDMAP could help my students organize their writing. Ideally, I would have liked to allow students to use the program themselves, but currently, I do not have any students with the right mix of strength in computer skills and weakness in the organization of their writing to benefit from it. The program has, however, helped me introduce the idea of mind mapping in a way that engages the children, and they are becoming much better at producing their own plans on paper using the general approach modeled on screen with ConceptDraw."

"ConceptDraw is, by a considerable margin, the largest mind-mapping package I have ever used, and it has an extensive range of libraries and templates. Only a limited number of those are relevant to my needs, but of course, it would be extremely narrow to criticize it for this. If a sufficiently large user base develops, I hope that the company would facilitate the exchange of resources among those involved in specific areas, such as primary education."

"As an enthusiast for mind mapping, and one who believes that the arrival of the technology means that its time has really come, I often recommend packages like this to others. Whether I will suggest ConceptDraw will depend very much on their personal computer skills and intended purpose. It is undoubtedly an extensive and powerful product, which will, for the right project, be good value for the money."

"I love this program! I can use it to extend a map that I have originally made using Inspiration."

"I'll definitely use this software in my workshops. Maps can be saved as a jpg's or html, or imported into PPT, so it is very versatile."

 

"This kind of program is wonderful for those of us who have to present information using PowerPoint, because the graphics are so unusual and effective. Imagination is stimulated by the interesting visuals that can be created fairly easily with this program."

"I used this program initially to develop a map to illustrate my job responsibilities for the purpose of a possible presentation on our school Web pages or during my year-end evaluation. I also used it to develop a map of a six-week history unit to present to my classes at the beginning of the unit -- and I provided a printout of the map for students to keep in their class notebooks. Students found this group presentation valuable. Finally, I attempted to use the program to recreate a lesson I had used with a different mapping program. I found this program difficult for students to navigate and time-consuming to use. With the limited computer-lab time available to our students, that would be a hindrance to student use of the program. The program requires more advanced skills than middle school students have and many of its features are too complicated for student use."

"I would not recommend this program for classroom use or for professional use by teachers. I have used other mapping software programs that were more educationally-oriented and easier to use, and that offered tutorials and lesson examples for educators, both online and through supplementary materials."

"I used this program with classroom teachers to publish blank concept maps for students to complete; with high school students to create concept maps; and with technology personnel for brainstorming and organizing ideas for our tech plan. I also used it with PowerPoint during training. I would recommend this software to educators. It reminds me of Inspiration, but it is much more powerful, and has more features and functionality. I also liked the fact that you could export your documents to the Web."

"I teach three different classes; a freshman science class, a biology class, and an astronomy class. I used this program in all three classes, mainly in brainstorming sessions. When we start a new chapter or unit, I typically brainstorm with students to see what they know about the topic. MINDMAP helped organize their thoughts. Later, after the students had had some instruction on the topic, we revisited what we had done to see what they had learned, and we modified the concept maps that had been created. I would like to have students create their own concept maps again in the future, but I don't always have the class time to devote to it, especially with limited resources. I wouldn't recommend that high school teachers with limited computer accessibility or time attempt to use this software in the classroom, although I do feel concept mapping is a valuable tool for students to use. I will, however, use this program at home as a tool to organize my curriculum and my professional and personal life."

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

 

You Review Software

Do you agree with our reviewers' rating of ConceptDraw MINDMAP? E-mail [email protected] to share your experiences with MINDMAP.

INSTALLATION COMMENTS

"The program installed very easily both on my Mac and on my PC."

"Installation was simple and clearly explained. The required memory and hard drive space are reasonable."

"I had considerable issues relating to installation on my system. When first installed and run, I found the ZoneAlarm firewall reported that the program was trying to access the Internet. I presumed this was for a registration process and, although surprised that the program itself did not ask permission, I allowed access. I was somewhat disturbed that there was no apparent action as a result, so that I could not tell what, if anything, it was reporting to the Internet. From then on, I refused Internet access with no apparent ill effects, but the question was nagging at me, so in the final week of the review process, I contacted the online support system to ask about it. A prompt response asked me to upgrade to version 2.0 and supplied a link from which to download free. It was a substantial download for the dial-up I was using and I have not had time to revise all aspects of the update, but in relation to my specific question, it made no difference. In fact, it added a further irritation in that it now insisted on calling for the Microsoft Outlook setup wizard, which I never use. I sent a screen grab of the ZoneAlarm alert to support and their response was that, contrary to the wording of the alert, the program was not attempting to access the Internet, but the local network. As I understand it, it was doing so to search for unlicensed installations of the program on other machines on the network. With all due respect to the undoubted problem of software piracy, this does not seem the most efficient solution. As to the MS Outlook issue, they say they have never come across this, presumably because other users either already have Outlook set up or do not bother to report it, but I would suspect that relatively inexperienced users may find these issues off-putting."

"I had no problems with installation!"

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

USABILITY COMMENTS

"I used the book to begin the maps. I am not sure I could have done very well without the supporting documentation!"

"It would greatly help this program to have a tutorial available. There are instructions in the manual, but they are not in tutorial format, and I encountered several occasions when those instructions were not clear. For example, I attempted to connect a shape with a branch of a map, so the text would appear on top of the shape. (I wanted to be able to move them as a single unit -- without repositioning.) I was not successful in doing that, even though the instructions implied that it was possible."

"This is not an intuitive program that teachers and students would be able to use without training. Familiarizing myself with even the basic elements of the program was not a smooth process. After using the wizard to create an initial map, I had to hunt through the manual and menus to find additional features and learn new skills. The precision drawing tools are not needed for educational mapping purposes. Teachers need a relatively simple tool, with which -- in a small amount of time -- they can build concept maps or work with students to build concept maps without difficulty."

"The availability of a printed manual in the package rather than the user having to assume that expense is an asset."

"I think the skills required are quite high for children -- and for many teachers."

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

PERFORMANCE COMMENTS

"The program performed very well!"

"The developed maps were amazingly compact in terms of space used. This size factor will help in transferring files."

"No performance problems were found."

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

USEFULNESS COMMENTS

"This program is useful to me, because I like to fiddle with this kind of software, and because I enjoy the artistic aspects of it. I also give workshops, and I like the way this software allows me to extend the concept maps I've created in other programs -- and make them even more impressive. I don't know, however, if the average teacher would be willing to put the necessary amount of time into something like this. Inspiration would work well enough for elementary school-age classes."

"The features I found particularly useful were the ability to convert documents to PowerPoint and HTML and the timed brainstorming feature."

"This program lacks educationally relevant graphics essential for educational use. The addition of built in libraries with educational themes would greatly improve its usefulness for educators. Though the graphic representation of (mapping) ideas and processes is very relevant to current trends in the use of multiple intelligences in education, this program does not appear to be appropriate for student use at the middle school or elementary level; it appears to be designed more for adults than for students."

"Unfortunately, I found this program not very useful to my needs or purposes."

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

SUPPORT COMMENTS

"I made good use of the Assistant! It's a great tool to get you started, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. I also liked using the templates. This is a great tool for the visual learner!"

"Technical support was not needed to install and run the program."

"A tutorial would be most helpful in teaching the features of this program to beginning users. From a tutorial I could easily develop educationally relevant training for my teachers and students."

"I found that the Help menu answered any questions I had, readily and adequately. The online support may not have answered all my questions, but it was very prompt and polite."

 

Click here to see a more detailed ED-u-rate chart for ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

 

Click here to see educators' reviews of other products including Kidspiration, Timeliner, Graph Master, Adobe Photoshop, NetSupport School, NetOpSchool, SmartDraw, and more!

 

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 2003 Education World

 

03/05/2003